


Submerged

by ParvumAutomaton



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Non-Linear Narrative, Poisoning, descriptions of racism against fictional races
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 03:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18307448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParvumAutomaton/pseuds/ParvumAutomaton
Summary: Guarding an Atlantean diplomat should have been a simple mission for Jaime and La'gaan.It wasn't.When Jaime finally wakes up, he's unable to move, and barely able to talk. But that doesn't stop him from asking his most pressing question."Where is La'gaan?"





	Submerged

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Fira for their excellent Atlantean to English dictionary (https://fishpunsarelife.tumblr.com/atlantean). Scarabae for their help in beta-ing this story. And Windona for the writing nights that really helped me get past my writer's block. Thank you all, I couldn't have done it without you.

When Jaime woke up, it was to Nightwing’s whispered voice.

“The armor’s down, and he’s breathing on his own. I just need to ask-”

“You need to let him rest.” Karen cut him off.

But Jaime couldn’t, not while he didn’t know. Even if it took him three times to get a quite raspy sound out, he had to ask.

“Where’s La’gaan?”

The room went completely silent. Nightwing took a spot next to Jaime, his hand firmly resting on Jaime’s shoulder, while Karen prepared him a glass of ice water with straw.

“Not here.” Nightwing said firmly. “Listen, I don’t want you to push yourself, but when you are able-”

“No.” Jaime would have clenched his fist, but his arms, his legs, even now he couldn’t get them to move. All he could do was try to force some strength into his paper thin voice, and repeat his question. “Where is La’gaan?”

“He’s-” Karen started to say. A forceful ‘wait’ gesture from Nightwing stopped her.

“I need to get your statement first,” Nightwing explained, tape recorder in hand.

Karen returned Nightwing’s gesture with one of her own. She pushed the cup of water into Nightwing’s hands before gently holding Jaime’s hands.

“Are you alright with that?” She asked him gently.

“Yeah,”Jaime said softly, not able to nod.

“Alright, I’ll get- I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

Jaime watched as Karen left the room before turning his attention to Nightwing.

“Right, so let’s start from the beginning. Do-” Nightwing cut himself off and glanced down at the glass in his hand. “Do you need some water first?”

“Please.”

Nightwing held the cup for him. Jaime took his time drinking, and not just because it was hard to even get his face to do exactly what he wanted.

He wished he had time to try and reach the Scarab before talking to Nightwing. But time was of the essence, he had to get his side -the truth- out.

“So,” Jaime said softly grabbing Nightwing’s full attention, “starting from the beginning.”

* * *

 

 

“Somehow, I always forget how bad sewers smell.” Jaime said, holding one hand in front of his armored face, as if that could stop the smell as he lowered La’gaan down to a small ledge that was next to the slow moving and off colored sewer water. “Like, I knew but-”

“You can still go back and rejoin Alpha,” La’gaan stated.

“I’m fine,” Jaime said lightly. “I don’t need to.”

“And I don’t need your charity,” La’gaan said sharply, turning to face Jaime.

“It’s not-” Jaime started but stopped when La’gaan glared.

Because it kinda was charity. Or at least Jaime could see why La’gaan felt that way.

It all started with an argument over team assignments for this mission. La’gaan was upset at sewer duty and insisted that Kaldur would have never made that assignment on a mission protecting Ronal. Nightwing countered that his assignment was the most logical for keeping the Atlantean diplomat safe, and followed up with a reminder that Kaldur had called him in as a favor and put _him_ in charge while he was offworld.

This was when Jaime stepped forward and offered to switch places with La’gaan. And sure, it was being able to help La’gaan out that enabled Jaime to speak up. But not wanting to be a part of Alpha with Nightwing and Conner, that desire started when Nightwing had described their mission as infiltrating the party Ronal was attending as civilian guests.

But Nightwing had rejected the switch, so-

“It was either joining you or dropping the mission.” Jaime explained.

“You should have just dropped the mission,” La’gaan grumbled. “That _ba’athu-kest-_ ”

La’gaan cut himself off sharply and turned away, stomping along the small ledge.

“What?” Jaime asked following behind him.

_[Deep beast,]_ the Scarab translated, in a way that explained nothing and prompted both an exasperated eye roll and fond smile from Jaime as he waited for La’gaan’s response.

“It’s nothing, chum.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” Jaime said, placing his hand on La’gaan’s shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

La’gaan turned to face Jaime. “I should be asking you that. Why didn’t you think you could do the infiltration mission?”

Jaime shuffled his feet and looked away.

“I’m kinda recognizable, you know? Even out of armor, I’m the face of the Reach invasion-”

“That wasn’t your fault.” La’gaan said firmly.

“Doesn’t stop people from blaming me,” Jaime said with a shrug, before continuing in a quieter voice “Doesn’t stop me from blaming me.”

He was the one that trusted Green Beetle over his Scarab, because of fear. He was the one that allowed the Reach to place him on mode.

La’gaan placed both his hands on Jaime’s shoulders, just outside of the Scarab’s front legs.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he repeated. “It was the Reach’s. Most people know that, and the ones who chose not to can suck a jellyfish.”

_[I agree with the Lagoon Boy’s assessment, and will glady procure jellyfish for flinging at anyone who makes you feel otherwise.]_

Jaime allowed himself a small smile.

“I know. But that doesn’t stop them from coming up to me and reminding me to keep the Scarab under control, or thanking me for keeping control, or cursing me for letting them take control,” Jaime sighed and let his shoulders drop, causing La’gaan’s hands to slide off.

Jaime didn’t mention the fact that he didn’t have control over the Scarab. He never did. With the way they were wired into his nervous system, he never would. But that didn’t matter, because the Scarab was his partner, his friend, who had promised never to repeat what the Reach had done to him. And with the concern that Jaime felt from the Scarab each time he awoke from the recurring nightmares of being forced to helplessly watch while his friends and family died by his hands, Jaime believed the Scarab’s promise.

That wasn’t to say that either of them wanted to spread around the fact that the only thing standing in the way of a Reach Apocalypse 2.0 was the Scarab’s goodwill and lack of desire to conquer the world. The Scarab didn’t think that the team or the population at large would believe that, and Jaime didn’t have a good argument to combat that belief. Even though goodwill and a lack of desire to conquer was the only thing standing in the way of a Kryptonian apocalypse.

Jaime forced himself to give a light laugh when he saw La’gaan looking at him in concern. “I’m used to it. I just think that the influx of people coming to me would have blown the mission.”

“Then let the mission be blown,” La’gaan said vehemently. “Screw it.”

Jaime blinked. “I’m not going to put anyone, much less someone representing your home, get hurt because I-”

“Ronal’s a _chkexeht_ ,” La’gaan cut him off forcefully. “And I really _really_ couldn’t care less if he was hurt.”

“Chkexeht?”

_[Fake-good]_ The Scarab translated.  

“He-” La’gaan started, cutting himself off, clenching his fists, and exhaling heavily. “Nevermind. I’ll tell you after the mission.”

“Okay,” Jaime said.

He could tell it was a sore subject, and if La’gaan didn’t want to talk about it he didn’t have to. Jaime wasn’t going to push him. Even if it meant that he couldn’t put off entering the sewer water any longer.

Jaime looked down at the dark stagnant liquid. They might have needed to enter it to to prevent an assassin from using the underground tunnel network to attack the diplomatic meeting, and it might have been a badly filtered storm drain not a sewage drain, and Jaime might have already made his peace with wearing armor made out of his own recycled skin and waste, but that didn’t stop the gagging feeling in the back of his throat as he entered the water.

Still, he supposed he had it way better than La’gaan, who followed him into the water. As the Scarab just shut down his respiratory system and artificially oxygenated his blood, while La’gaan actually had to breathe the thick brown water.

So Jaime didn’t waste a moment before following the Scarab’s directions.

The intelligence that Nightwing had given them identified and old and extensive tunnel network that extended both below and above water. With some of the above water tunnels connecting directly to the basement of the building with the diplomatic meeting. The only other entrance to this system identified by the intelligence was a section of broken wall within the storm drains that the Scarab was currently leading them towards. Although Nightwing had also stressed that the intelligence was incomplete and there may be other unknown entrances that assassins could use to attack the meeting.

It may have been necessary to take this entrance, to make sure no one used it and to have any potential assassin underestimate the size of the team protecting Ronal; but that didn’t stop Jaime from feeling disgust at swimming through the slimy stagnant freshwater.

So, it was a relief when the Scarab alerted him to a change in salinity and Jaime was able to wave La’gaan over to the section of broken wall where the sea water that had flooded the tunnel system mixed with the freshwater sewers.

He let La’gaan enter the underwater tunnel network first. Once he was in, La’gaan swam slowly, stretching out his fins and performing slow rolls. Jaime quickly followed. He did take a moment to enjoy how much better the clean saltwater felt, before swimming in front of La’gaan to allow the Scarab to navigate them through the low light and confusing branches of the tunnels.

* * *

 

“After we entered the tunnel system, the mission went south,” Jaime told Nightwing.

Went south was a mild way of putting it. It was then that the mission was blown. It was then that Jaime messed up.

He could still hear Nightwing’s rebuke, ‘ _You still failed to call for backup. You still abandoned an injured team member and disobeyed orders.’_ When they found him. He could still hear Ronal’s slimy, ‘ _Well his kind are more prone to anger.’_

* * *

 

Jaime swam slowly through the still and deserted tunnels. The water created a muffled quiet that Jaime found quite relaxing. Nightwing and Conner wouldn’t expect a radio check in while they were underwater, and that meant more time without having to navigate the lingering tension from the argument.

There would be plenty of time for that awkwardness in the half mile walk that they would follow.

So it was all too soon when the Scarab pointed out the hole in the ceiling of the tunnel that would allow him and La’gaan to reach dry upper level tunnels. But as he reached the exit, the Scarab gave him an announcement that he was not expecting.

_[All communication channels have been lost.]_

Jaime blinked. That certainly explained why it had been so quiet

He turned back towards La’gaan. He was planning to wave or point at his ear to make him aware of the loss. However his plan changed the millisecond he saw the shadows behind La’gaan move.

The billowing of a cloak. The flash of a blade.

Jaime triggered his jetpack and rushed past La’gaan, his arm reconfiguring to be a shield.

As he closed the distance, he could see that the blade, a spear, had been thrown at them. Jaime easily knocked it off course before landing a punch on the jaw of the cloaked man.

The man fell back, cradling his jaw and eyeing the spear that slowly sank to the bottom of the underwater tunnel.

_[Armor compromised. Exit the water immediately.]_

Jaime looked down at his arm and could see his armor slowly folding back around a long shallow cut. Out of instinct, Jaime clamped down on his injured arm with his other hand.

_[Alert!]_

Jaime jerked back, allowing himself to sink. When he looked back up he could see exactly what the Scarab was warning him about. On either side of where his head had been he could see the points of spears being wielded by two more people in robes.

The only reason the spears hadn’t compromised the armor on his head was La’gaan. He had a grip on each spear, just below the blade, and once he saw that Jaime was out of the way La’gaan transformed into his puffer mode and spun to rip both spears out of the attackers’ hands.

_[Three minutes until magical contamination forces full armor shutdown.]_

Jaime felt the cold water hitting his skin, as the armor retreated past where his hand was clamped. He could also see the hole in the ceiling above him. And the warmth and breathable air that it guaranteed.

However if he left now it would be three versus one. And Jaime was not going to do that to La’gaan.

He looked away from the exit and focused on the two people in robes still on either side of La’gaan.

_[Armor will be down for approximately 30 minutes, during which time I will not be able to oxygenate your blood.]_ The Scarab waited a beat before continuing. _[And you cannot breathe underwater.]_

It was frustrating not to be able to directly tell the Scarab that he couldn’t leave the water without making sure La’gaan was safe. But since the Scarab was oxygenating his blood no air was passing over his vocal cords, and the only time Jaime had been able to talk to the Scarab directly with his mind was while he was on mode. One of these days Jaime wanted to learn sign language for situations like this.

But until then he had to rely on how well the Scarab knew him. A short nod to show that he understood the Scarab’s warning. But keeping his gazes locked on the two surrounding La’gaan to show why he wasn’t acting on it.

They had both had latched onto the end of one spear and were trying to wrest it out of his hand. Below him Jaime saw movement and the glint of light off of a blade.

He glared at the blade and pointed his arm that still had armor at it. The Scarab got the message. They transformed his arm into a plasma cannon and fired.

The third assilliant, the one that had started this fight by throwing his spear, dodged. However this time he wouldn’t be able to use his spear again, as the head was vaporized by the plasma blast.

The man looked at the end of his spear, dropped it, and fled. He raced past Jaime and out of the hole in the ceiling. The two that were fighting with La’gaan over the spear also dropped the end they were holding and fled.

_[The Lagoon Boy is safe. Now can we leave the water? I do not want you to drown while I am enacting critical system repairs.]_

Jaime smiled fondly, taking a moment to pat the Scarab’s leg encouragingly before turning and following La’gaan, who was swimming towards the exit with powerful strokes.

La’gaan had to pause slightly at the hole, deflating from his puffer mode to fit through the exit. He pulled himself out of the water in a smooth graceful motion.

Jaime followed closely behind him. He easily fit through the hole and placed both hands on the damp floor of the upper tunnel. He could see La’gaan wave to him and point to the tunnel the assailants had fled down.

To his growing panic,Jaime couldn’t pull himself into the tunnel with the same gracefulness as La’gaan. In fact he couldn’t pull himself into the tunnel at all.

He tried, but neither arm could produce the force needed.

“Come on, chum.”

* * *

 

“Scarab noted that communication were lost. But before I could tell La’gaan, we were attacked by three cloaked figures wielding spears. I got nicked in the arm. Fortunately, we were near the exit to the upper levels but-”

Jaime paused. He had tried to give a gesture towards his general state. But since his general state included paralysis, that gesture never came.

* * *

 

Jaime tried kicking, but his legs weren’t any more helpful than his arms for getting out of the water. And the armor had retreated far enough so that he couldn’t summon his jetpack or wings.

Jaime tried again, this time attempting to grip the rough stone and pull himself. But even though each stone was the perfect size to grip, Jaime couldn’t close his fingers onto them.

“I can’t.”

The words were hard to say. Even out of armor, he was still supposed to be a superhero. He was still supposed to have enough strength to do a simple thing such as pulling himself out of water. Having to admit that he couldn’t made his tongue feel like a rock in his mouth.

La’gaan didn’t hesitate. He sprinted back towards Jaime and pulled him out of the water in a single fluid movement.

La’gaan placed Jaime on his feet, but Jaime’s knees couldn’t hold him up. He sagged against La’gaan, only remaining upright because of La’gaan’s firm hold on his back.

“What happened?”

“Magic spear,” Jaime whispered. The heavy feeling of his tongue had not gone away. And the tingling numbness of his lips made talking feel like a chore.

“Scarab-” Jaime struggled to force out the breath to speak. “Thirty-”

Jaime tried to take a deep breath.

He failed.

Jaime tried to raise his hand to his throat.

He failed.

“Blue?”

Jaime couldn’t answer La’gaan.

He couldn’t turn to look at him, nor could he close his eyes.

All he could do was stare at La’gaan’s shoulder which his head was leaning against.

“Blue?”

He felt La’gaan shake his shoulder.

Jaime’s chest burned as his lungs demanded air.

“Jaime?”

La’gaan lowered Jaime gently to the ground.

Jaime watched the scenery change from La’gaan’s shoulder to branching tunnels before ending up with the brick masonry that made up the roof of the tunnels.

He could feel La’gaan squeeze his hand.

He could not respond.

His chest hurt so bad, burning and constricting for the need of oxygen. La’gaan’s hand pressed against Jaime’s chest, and the fin brushing his face as La’gaan leaned over him, only seemed to amplify the fact that he couldn’t take a breath.

Thirty minutes. The armor was going to be down for thirty minutes.

Jaime wouldn’t last that long. La’gaan was going to watch him suffocate. And the Scarab was going to come back to a dead body.

Darkness encroached on the edges of his vision. La’gaan pulled his head away. And Jaime wished he could call him back.

He didn’t want to die alone.

But he wasn’t alone. Even though La’gaan had moved out of his field of view, he was still there. Jaime could feel La’gaan tilt his chin up. He could feel La’gaan pinch his nose and place one hand flat on his chest.

Green filled his view. Air filled his lungs. Jaime felt his chest rise and fall, bringing La’gaan’s hand along for the ride.

La’gaan released his nose and Jaime could feel two fingers press against the side of his neck, checking for a pulse.

“Come on, breathe.”

Jaime couldn’t follow that order. La’gaan kept his fingers to Jaime’s neck for several more seconds, counting to thirty before giving Jaime another rescue breath.

“Nightwing? Superboy? Neptune's beard! Answer me!”

Jaime vaguely recalled the Scarab’s initial warning. Whatever had caused their comms to fail must still be in place. And dread settled into the pit of Jaime’s stomach as La’gaan begged into the non-responsive comms that they needed help now.

What if La’gaan ran to get help?

What if he left?

Maybe he could get back before Jaime suffocated, but that didn’t keep the fear Jaime felt at dying alone on the damp floor at bay.

But La’gaan didn’t leave.

He eventually gave up on the comms. He eventually gave up on begging Jaime to stay with him. But he never gave up on the rescue breathing.

He never stopped monitoring Jaime’s pulse, nor counting between each breath.

Even if, with every passing minute, the action became more routine. The frantic worry La’gaan had started with replaced with calm determination.

And with every passing minute, Jaime’s fear of being left was replaced with worry for La’gaan and the rest of the team. Whoever had attacked them was still out there, somewhere in the tunnels. While La’gaan was distracted keeping Jaime alive, they could come back and finish them both.

Jaime didn’t want his friend dying for him.

Not that Jaime had a way of communicating that to him.

* * *

 

“La’gaan _disengaged_ .” Jaime said with as much force as his lingering paralysis would allow. “He got me out of the water instead of pursuing our attackers. And the thirty minutes when the armor was down, and I couldn’t do anything. He breathed for me. _He kept me alive._ ”

For a split second, Jaime thought Nightwing looked abashed.

“Did you ever pass out?”

“No. La’gaan kept a good pace.”

La’gaan was so invested in his survival. But he never visited Jaime as he lay completely locked in on his hospital bed.

Conner had stayed by his side until his parents got there. His mom repeated all the tests that Dr. Cross had done, while his father sat by his side and repeated ‘ _you are a good man’,_ to him. Once his mom was satisfied with her conclusion, she kissed his armored head and thanked the Scarab with a soft voice that wavered in a way Jaime had only heard once before, when his _abuelito_ got sick.

Afterwards, she let his teammates in the room one at a time, using her ‘nurse mode’ to keep them from rushing in all at once.

Bart came to see him three separate times. Bianca had to drag him out two times; Karen helped with the third.

Virgil brought well wishes from himself and Tye, who was currently watching Milagro for Jaime’s parents because he couldn’t yet get clearance to visit Jaime on the Watchtower.

Garfield brought news of M’gann and how she was rushing back to Earth. And that he was sorry that she wasn’t here yet as he knew how much it sucked to not be able to communicate.

Cassie brought news from Tim that she probably wasn’t supposed to have, much less give him, that this case was ‘ _complicated’_ and that he needed to wake up soon to clear everything up.

Karen left and  brought back coffee for his parents and the offer to watch Jaime while they took some time to sleep.

But La’gaan- La’gaan never visited him. And Jaime couldn’t help but think that was a bad sign.

“And what happened when the armor came back?” Nightwing asked, distracting Jaime from his worry.

* * *

 

_[Armor repair complete.]_

Mentally, Jaime jumped at the Scarab’s voice. Physically, he didn’t move. La’gaan remained crouching over him, hand on his chest, still counting.

It wasn’t until La’gaan removed his hand from Jaime’s neck and pinched Jaime’s nose that the Scarab reacted, snapping their armor over Jaime.

_[Tell the Lagoon Boy that we do not wish to be prodded.]_ The Scarab grumbled.

La’gaan clutched Jaime’s hand like a lifeline.

“Oh, thank the Gods!”

Jaime could feel the Scarab’s annoyance when they spoke again. _[Tell him.]_

Jaime couldn’t squeeze La’gaan’s hand in response to the cheer, nor could he voice the Scarab’s complaint. He could however feel the growing sense of not being able to breathe again.

“Blue?”

_[Jaime Reyes?]_

La’gaan’s voice mingled with the Scarab’s in his head.

“ _Daekaara._ ” La’gaan said. Jaime didn’t need the Scarab’s translation to know that it was a curse. He felt La’gaan’s fingers against the side of his throat. He felt La’gaan’s hand flat on his chest. “ _Daekaara daekaara daekaara_.”

Jaime was vaguely aware that La’gaan started chest compressions, even if the armor redirected most of the force.

_[Jaime Reyes? Tell the Lagoon Boy to stop pushing on the armor,]_ the Scarab said, and Jaime could feel a worried buzzing that he had only felt one time before, in the final moments before Green Beetle got them fully on mode. _[Jaime Reyes, respond!]_

“You can’t die. _Daekaara._ You can’t.”

_[Oxygen saturation below 70%. Beginning artificial oxygenation. Jaime Reyes, respond.]_

The worry in both La’gaan’s and the Scarab’s voices made Jaime feel bad about how good it felt to have the feeling of suffocation completely eliminated. He didn’t like being comfortable, safe, while those around him worried. But there was nothing he could do to let them know that he was alright.

Nothing he could do to reassure La’gaan as he yelled in frustration, transformed into puffer mode, and attempted chest compressions again.

The tunnels floor cracked before the armor buckled and he felt himself being dragged out of the water and to a drier section of tunnel.

“Please,” La’gaan said in a soft breaking voice.

_[Heart rate normal. Oxygen saturation normal. Mental activity normal. Jaime Reyes, the Lagoon Boy is worried about about you. Please respond.]_ The Scarab hesitated a second before continuing. _[Jaime Reyes, I am worried about you. Please respond.]_

Jaime felt his heart break at the wavering in the Scarab’s tone.

He felt La’gaan trace the edges of his armor with his fingers.

“Come on,” he hissed softly. “There has to be some override. Please I can help.”

_[Jaime Reyes, should I initialize reassurance towards Lagoon Boy?]_

Jaime felt La’gaan’s head press into his chest as he whispered, “Please, don’t die.”

_[I am going to initialize reassurance.]_

The armor on Jaime’s chest tingled as it changed to form a screen, centered where La’gaan’s head was pressed against his armor.

[ _I am displaying current information on vitals. It is proof Jaime Reyes is alive and will awaken soon_ ,] the Scarab said, hesitating again before continuing. _[Correct?]_

Jaime could tell exactly when La’gaan noticed the display. He felt him pull back and grab Jaime’s hand.

“Good,” he breathed. “This- this is good. And now, any second, you’re going to wake up. Right?”

_[The Lagoon Boy’s logic is flawless. Jaime Reyes, you will wake up soon. You must.]_

But Jaime didn’t wake up soon, or rather he didn’t regain his ability to move. And Jaime just had to wait as La’gaan’s grip on his hand slowly tightened.

“Talking is supposed to help people wake up, right?” La’gaan said softly. His voice was firm, but Jaime could feel La’gaan’s hand shake as it held his own. “So I’m going to stay here just keep talking until you wake up or-”

La’gaan took a deep breath.

“Or ‘Wing shows up to yell at me for abandoning the mission. Not that you should feel bad about that. At all. I mean obviously.”

Jaime could feel his hand move slightly as La’gaan shrugged.

“Not that it would be Nightwing’s fault either,” La’gaan said quickly. “I haven’t exactly made a secret of the fact I don’t like doing this mission at all.”

La’gaan placed a hand on Jaime’s shoulder.

“Trust me, it has nothing to do with you,” he said gently. “Or even guarding the sewers. Being a superhero isn’t always glamorous I know that.”

La’gaan sighed. When he spoke again, his words came out in an angry rush. “But being relegated to the sewers by Ronal? That’s exactly what he wants.”

He held Jaime’s hand tightly and took a breath.

“I can’t believe they made that _chkexeht_ a diplomat. Like they forgot everything he did just because he turned on Ocean Master.”

Jaime vaguely recalled Ocean Master as a former member of the Light. But information on him was jumbled with the all the other information from the team’s mission reports. He probably should have studied them one at at time instead of binge reading the entire batch the night after Conner chided him.   

“But that doesn’t change what he did to Topo,” La’gann continued. “That doesn’t undo the terror that he gleefully inflicted on my friends.”

La’gaan’s hand shook slightly. And Jaime was sure that it wasn’t just about La’gaan’s friends. But even if Jaime could talk, he wouldn’t speak his suspicion that La’gaan was also hurt by Ronal.

“And it’s not like he’s actually turned over a new leaf, despite what he claims. He’s just gotten smarter about how he attacks _kisegra.”_

_[Kisegra, an Atlantean whose appearance does not exactly match that of a surface dweller,]_ the Scarab explained.

And Jaime was glad that he was paralyzed at the moment. Because the grin he felt at the Scarab finally providing enough information for their definitions to be useful, was not an appropriate response to the information he was learning about Ronal.

“Now he uses his position as a platform. All ‘of course I can’t be a bigot I turned on Ocean Master’,” La’gaan continued, his voice pitching up in anger as he mimicked Ronal. “While using Kaldur’ahm’s undercover mission as an example of why _kisegra_ can’t be trusted. And explaining away the violence and harassment that my friends endured as our fault. We should have known better than to flaunt our existence, to enter the inner provinces.”

“Fuck that.”

La’gaan was breathing so hard, that Jaime could feel the movement through his hands. And Jaime didn’t blame him. If he could speak he’d echo the sentiment. Then he’d try to make La’gaan feel better with a wry observation.

Something like, it sounds like the teams were split into two missions. One that involved dealing with _actual human trash_ , and the other that just required a short sewer swim.

But Jaime couldn’t. So La’gaan took several calming breaths.

“Sorry,” La’gaan said in a soft apologetic tone. “It isn’t fair for you to wake up to me bombarding you with my problems.  So happier topic...”

Jaime didn’t think La’gaan had anything to apologize for. But he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue.

“Once you get up, I’m inviting you to Poseidonis. I want to introduce you to Blubber and Lori. I swear it would be totally unrelated to me proving my point about learning CPR before coming to the surface. Mostly unrelated.”

La’gaan gave a short genuine laugh. He held Jaime’s hand softly, rubbing his thumb over Jaime’s knuckles, back and forth in a soothing motion.

“Still I think you would really get along with them. Especially with Blubber. He’s a techie, you know, if you’d be willing to talk about the armor, or even just surfacer cars-”

* * *

 

“The same as before. Conscious and trapped in my body, but without the creeping feeling of suffocation.”

Nightwing nodded.

“I didn’t- couldn’t do anything after that. But that didn’t mean our enemies would just leave us alone. One on the assassins came back. La’gaan didn’t notice.”

* * *

 

_[Hostile detected. Engage?]_

Jaime felt like a lead ball had formed in the pit of his stomach. All he could focus on was the Scarab’s warning, and the fact that no matter how much he willed La’gaan to notice, he was still talking in a light, relaxed tone.

_[Jaime Reyes would want me to engage.]_ The Scarab said, and Jaime could hear the question in their voice.

He did want the Scarab to engage. La’gaan still hadn’t noticed the hostile, and Jaime did not want to watch helplessly as another friend got hurt.

And each millisecond that passed without movement made Jaime’s fear grow.

_[Neuromuscular control is nonresponsive. Engaging external override.]_

Jaime felt himself be lifted by the armor as it stood, like a puppet pulled up by its strings. It was a new sensation to be sure, but also one of the best feelings of his life, because it meant that La’gaan wouldn’t be caught unaware, that he wouldn’t just have to watch helplessly.

In one stiff motion, the Scarab raised their arm, transformed it, and fired two staples past La’gaan. Jaime couldn’t help but notice how in the time between forming the weapon and firing, La’gaan’s face went from ecstatic to worried to protective.

_[Target contained,]_ Jaime could feel the Scarab grinning with those words. _[Tracing cause of Neuromuscular inhibition. Tetrodotoxin detected. Jaime Reyes, you are awake.]_

In an instant, the armor stopped acting as an external support, and Jaime tumbled to the ground. Again La’gaan caught his limp body before he could hit the ground. However this time Jaime was glad that he wasn’t starting to slowly suffocate.

_[You are awake but unable to act and I- and I-]_

Jaime could feel the Scarab shake against his spine as La’gaan lowed him back to the ground.

_[I broke my promise. I made you relive your nightmares.]_

No no no, you did good.

Jaime tried to project that feeling to the Scarab, but just like in his nightmares, it didn’t work. And he was helpless while his friend was in pain. Emotional this time, not physical, but still pain Jaime couldn’t prevent.

_[I didn’t protect an ally while you were unconscious. I controlled you while you were awake. Just like the Reach. I promised never to do so- but- I did. That is unforgivable.]_

It wasn’t.

It wasn’t even in need of forgiveness.

_[I- I am sorry Jaime Reyes. I am.]_

Jaime wanted to hug the Scarab, to reassure them that they did good.

But he couldn’t. And the feeling of the Scarab pulling back, maintaining only a feather light touch to continue life support, broke Jaime’s heart.

* * *

 

“But the Scarab did.”

Jaime hesitated. He could see the way that Nightwing’s eyes narrowed. He had to tell the truth, at least most of it. The Scarab was already upset enough, and he didn’t want Nightwing’s worry make them feel worse.

“They activated a defense protocol. One that I’d approved,” Jaime could feel the Scarab uncurl at that, softly vibrating against his spine. It felt good. “Since I was incapacitated, they took control, fired staples to non-lethally stop the threat, and then returned control.”

“I see,” Nightwing said, eyes still narrowed.

Jaime moved on quickly.

* * *

 

La’gaan shifted, crouching low and defensively over Jaime. And Jaime felt his fear skyrocket that more people would be hurt around him.

“What did you do?” A voice Jaime didn’t recognize bounced off the walls of the tunnel.

La’gaan crouched lower. One of his hands gripped Jaime’s upper arm, holding it protectivally.

“Stay back, Ronal.” La’gaan hissed.

In the tense silence that followed, Jaime could clearly hear the step that Ronal took.

He could hear the low growl as La’gaan entered puffer mode. He could feel the wind as La’gaan launched himself towards Ronal.

He could hear the fight. La’gaan’s growl. Ronal’s accusations. The whoosh of a cloak. Feet hitting the damp floor. The clang of metal against stone.

La’gaan’s command. “Stand down. Now.”

More footsteps.

“What is going on here?” Nightwing’s voice. Jaime could hear the edge it always got when his plans started to fall apart.

“That’s the spearhead, the same spearhead,” Jaime could hear La’gaan’s voice shake. “You attacked-”

“I was at a diplomatic meeting,” Ronal cut him off, his voice smooth as grease, “at least until you attacked me. With that.”

Jaime didn’t have to see the interaction to know that Ronal was pointing at the spearhead.

“I didn’t,” La’gaan said with an indignant sputter. “I never-”

Nightwing cut him off. “We all saw you.”

“Blue?”

All Jaime could see was Conner’s concerned face as he leaned over him, one hand on Jaime’s chest the other against his face. Jaime couldn’t help but watch the worry creep up Conner’s face, setting into his ever narrowing gaze.

“Shit, he’s not breathing.” Conner voice wasn’t a shout but Jaime could hear it echo through the tunnel. He could hear Nightwing’s sharp intake of breath. He could feel Conner push on the armor at his chin. He could feel the armor on his chest tingle as the Scarab expanded the screen that showed his vitals. “And I can’t get past the armor.”

“The armor’s providing life support, don’t mess with it.” La’gaan said, voice firm.

Conner opened his mouth, eyes narrowed, but his response caught in his throat. He snapped his jaw shut and gently traced over the information on the expanded screen. Jaime could feel Conner’s hands shake, as he maneuvered Jaime onto his side in a recovery position.

A position that allowed him to see Nightwing pinch the bridge of his nose before speaking with a barely concealed edge.

“Bioship’s on the way. What happened?”

Jaime saw La’gaan’s feet shuffle. He heard him take a short pained intake of air.

But Ronal with a voice as smooth as oil, cut him off before he could speak. “Isn’t it obvious? He has a grudge against me, and when his teammate tried to stop him- Well, his kind are more prone to anger.”

The silence after his statement hung sharply in the air, and when La’gaan finally spoke his voice was low with a clear enunciation that hid the shake of his words.

“How _dare_ you.”

La’gaan took one step towards Ronal, but before he could continue, Nightwing grabbed his wrist.

“Lagoon _Boy_ , now is not the time for this,” he hissed.

“Not the time?” La’gaan whipped his head to face Nightwing, and Jaime thought he saw a glowing on his shoulders but La’gaan didn’t transform.

Nightwing tightened his grip on La'gaan’s wrist. “What happened to Blue Beetle?”

La’gaan blinked slowly, the light faded completely. “Magic from the spear messed with the armor.”

“I thought the armor was stabilizing him?”

“Now it is, but this-,” La’gaan said, using his free hand to gesture weakly at Jaime, “-started after the armor went down.”

“How long? How long was the armor down? How long was he not breathing?” Nightwing snapped, eyes narrowing behind his mask, causing La’gaan to shrink back. “Do you actually know if it’s stabilizing him or still glitching? Because the way I see it, if the armor was the problem, now that it’s back up Blue should be too. But he’s not. So either the armor is still glitching and he’s dying in front of our eyes or something else going on.”

“I- I don’t know.”

Nightwing released La’gaan, who stared intently at his clenched fists but didn’t say anything else. Not even when Nightwing scooped up the spearhead from the floor and offered it to Ronal.

“Do you recognize this?”

“Yes, it’s a spearhead, standard issue to King Orin’s guard’s,” Ronal answered with a smug tone that implied that this was a thing La’gaan should have known.“They’re enchanted to temporarily compromise armor, but if the armor is back to full strength then the magic is gone. It should not cause long term issues. Unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Unless that enchantment isn’t the only thing on the spear. I can try a scrying spell, it may be able to determine what’s affecting Blue Beetle.”

“Do it,” Nightwing said without hesitation.

Ronal took the spearhead in both of his hands, careful to avoid the point. The spearhead glowed a bright white, producing a hum that quickly raised in pitch until the whole thing was vibrating. Ronal tossed it into the air with a shout. As soon as it left his hand, it exploded. Ronal was sent tumbling backwards and the entire spearhead became nothing more than fine black ash.

“What happened?” Nightwing asked, voice tight with worry.

“It was trapped, warded against scrying magic,” Ronal answered causing Nightwing to chew his lip and Khaji Da to buzz against his spine. “But don’t worry I was able to hold on just long enough to find out what else was done to it.”

“And?”

_[The Ronal is lying.]_ Khaji Da whispered, their presence still light as a feather, but nevertheless good to feel. _[I do know know for what end, but he is attempting to deceive the Nightwing.]_

Before Jaime had time to consider the implications of Khaji Da’s statement, Ronal answered Nightwing’s prompt.

“The spear was coated in poison,” He said, turning his head slightly to look directly at La’gaan. “From the pufferfish.”

Jaime felt a pit form in his stomach. Ronal was implying that La’gaan had caused this. And if Khaji Da was right, and Jaime was fairly sure that they were, then Ronal was lying about triggering a trap, which meant he destroyed the only evidence they had of their actual attackers on purpose.

“Tetrodotoxin.” Nightwing said flatly. “So Blue’s paralyzed. If the armor’s compensating now, he won’t get any worse. But depending on how long it was compromised, how long he was unable to breathe- We can’t rule out brain damage and we won’t know the extent until he wakes up. If he wakes up.”

La’gaan looked like he was hit. “He’ll wake up. He has to.”

“He wouldn’t even have been in this situation if not for you.” Nightwing snapped.

“You can’t believe-,” La’gaan stopped short looking at Ronal, standing tall with a smug grin. “I-I didn’t attack him.”

“Maybe not.” Nightwing said, voice low. “Maybe it was an accident. But you still failed to call for backup. You still abandoned an injured team member and disobeyed orders. All to go after someone you have a grudge against. This is the second time that’s happened La’gaan, and this time your recklessness placed us in the middle of an international incident.”

“It doesn’t have to be an international incident,” Ronal said in a voice as smooth as oil. “He is Atlantean. We can handle the justice side while you focus on your injured teammate.”

Jaime had seen the same grin that Ronal now sported on the Ambassador’s face. And he knew with every inch of his soul that if Ronal took La’gaan, La’gaan was never coming home.

But La’gaan didn’t respond to Ronal’s threat. Not directly at least. He looked towards Jaime, meeting his eyes for only a moment before looking away and sinking to his knees.

Jaime wished he could scream, to warn La’gaan or correct Nightwing. But he couldn’t do anything. He was trapped in his own body again while everyone was oblivious to the betrayal that put his friend at risk.

* * *

 

“Ronal was lying, Scarab confirmed the deception. He destroyed the spearhead.”

“To cover his trail,” Nightwing said flatly. “Yeah, we figured as much.”

* * *

 

_[The Ronal is untrustworthy. But I-]_ Khaji Da trailed off, and Jaime was terrified that they were going to pull back again. But they didn’t. Instead their presence grew. _[Jaime Reyes, I am going to show you that I can learn, that I am able to protect your friends without- I won’t hurt you again.]_

Jaime’s body didn’t move, but he could feel the screen on his chest vibrate, hear a ping chime, and see Conner look down in response.

Conner must have something the screen that Khaji Da had created, for his eyes narrowed and he tilted his head in a way almost identical to Wolf. He stayed in that position for a moment before rising to his feet and walking away from Jaime in a swift determined motion.

“Nightwing, I need a light.”

Nightwing did as Conner asked. And out of the corner of his vision Jaime could see a figure against the wall, their arms extending above their head into the darkness that Nightwing’s pin light didn’t touch.

Nightwing didn’t angle the light up to show their hands, not even as he cursed under his breath. But rather he kept it firmly focused on their face as he approached. And Jaime couldn’t blame him, the fact that their face was identical to La’gaan’s was very distracting.

“I think we found our would-be assassin.” Conner stated.

Nightwing reached up to the assassin’s chest and ripped something, an amulet or a broach, off. That caused their face to change from La’gaan’s to a very familiar man who was still nursing a large purple bruise on their jaw from Jaime’s punch.

As Nightwing and Conner focused on the assassin, Jaime saw Ronal jerk back. His smug facade cracking for a cracking for a second. The nervous twitch of his hand as his eyes narrowed and lips mouthed words that Jaime couldn’t hear. And then, the crack was gone. His smile returned. Neither Nightwing nor Conner had seen a thing.

La’gaan however. He had seen everything.

“Atlantean Justice will take care of this,” Ronal said smoothly as he walked forward to join Nightwing and Conner, his hand outstretched. “We will find out who created that.”

Nightwing turned to look at Ronal. His hand loosely outstretched holding the amulet but he never got the chance.

La’gaan leapt forward. In  two long strides, he had closed the distance and caught Ronal’s wrist in his hand.

“Actually, I think this would be better handled by the Justice League. If the assassin infiltrated your party, there could be more who don’t like you among the investigating mages.”  La’gaan said, mirroring the sharp smile Ronal had given him earlier. “After all, you never know if there’s a purist still pissed at you for giving up Ocean Master? And we wouldn’t want the investigation to be botched, right?”

Nightwing blinked twice before pulling the amulet away and saying, “Agreed.”

“This is still an Atlantean issue,” Ronal hissed.

“Blue Beetle isn’t Atlantean.” Conner snapped back.

“It was unfortunate that he was caught in the crossfire. But that does not change the fact that this is an Atlantean issue. The target was Atlantean, the Assassin was Atlantean, and so is the- _one_ that caught him.”

La’gaan didn’t let Ronal go. “Why do you think I’m the one who caught him?”

“You’re the only one who could have.”

“That’s an interesting assumption.” Nightwing said, staring down Ronal. “The logical conclusion, taking into account that La’gaan didn’t seem to know about this, and that Tetrodotoxin takes a little time to take effect, would be that Blue Beetle, separated from La’gaan, came across and took down the assassin. Returning to La’gaan but collapsing from the poison before he could tell him what he found. Don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t. And _you-,_ ” Ronal replied crisply, glaring at La’gaan. “- know that assisting surfacers in undermining Atlantean judicial authority is treason.”

Nightwing tilted the pin light up, showing the large blue staple that enveloped the assassin's wrists. “Blue Beetle captured him. And based off the evidence we have, it was after being attacked. The Justice League is therefore well within our rights to take the lead. But don’t worry, Ronal, we will work very closely with King Orin throughout the entire investigation.”

The silence that followed could be cut with a knife. Jaime watched Ronal clench his fist, a barely concealed sneer on his face.

But before Jaime could hear Ronal’s response, Conner scooped him up and carried him away. Neither Nightwing nor La’gaan joined them. Jaime assumed that they were staying behind to deal with the assassin and that everything would be fine. Besides there wasn’t anything Ronal could do now that would put La’gaan at risk.

At least Jaime didn’t think that there was.

* * *

 

“Anything else you want in your statement?”

“No.”

Nightwing flicked off the tape recorder.

“Then off the record. I know it was a tense situation, and I know we have no evidence that the Scarab is continuing to work with the Reach. But what you did was still far too risky. The Reach are tricky and there is no guarantee that they can’t find a way around your stipulations. And even if you managed to make a perfect rule set, finding out you allow the Reach Scarab control would hurt the team’s reputation, compounding our current issues with the UN. Making it harder to to our job. Do you understand?”

Jaime looked away from Nightwing. He could feel the Scarab’s happy vibrations stop.

“I’m serious Jaime. The risk is too great. Any rules you make will have points they can break and-”

“I understand,” Jaime said quickly, not looking at Nightwing and hating the way that the Scarab pulled away from him again.

“Good. I’ll send him in.”

Jaime didn’t look back at Nightwing, and waited with clenched teeth for him to leave. Nightwing didn’t try to push any more conversation.

The second Nightwing stepped out of the room, Jaime directed all his attention inward to the feather light touch of the Scarab.

Jaime closed his eyes, and after a moment of silence, he whispered, “Hey.”

“Hey,” La’gaan answered, even before the Scarab could.

Jaime’s eyes shot open.

“Oh. I-” He stuttered. He hadn’t heard La’gaan enter, but he hadn’t exactly been listening.

“Sorry, I was waiting outside when Nightwing left... I can leave if you want?”

Jaime hesitated. He could see bags under La’gaan’s eyes, he could see the way his shoulders started drooping in the silence after his question.

“I’m really glad to see you are alright,” Jaime said, desperately hoping that his smile showed through the lingering paralysis. “But-”

“It’s okay, I get it,” La’gaan said, corners of his mouth turning up. But his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“No, no, I want to see you. I want to talk. I just- I need... a moment.”

“Alright,” La’gaan gave him a genuine smile. He turned to leave, but hesitated when he got to the door. “Are you going to talk to the Scarab?”

“Yeah,” Jaime said, directing his gaze away from La’gaan’s worried expression.

“Jaime, I- I know that I don’t know how terrifying it is to be be controlled, and I don’t want to question your reasoning for feeling like you have to keep control of the Scarab. But-”

La’gaan hesitated.

“But?” Jaime prompted softly, meeting La’gaan’s gaze.

“The Scarab did _good_ when they took control. They saved my life, several times over. And I-”

Jaime blinked hard, and he didn’t know if he should feel pleased or annoyed that he had recovered enough to cry.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll-”

“Stay,” Jaime said, causing La’gaan’s hand on the door to freeze. “Please, stay.”

“Of course.” La’gaan said, sitting down by Jaime’s bed and placing one hand over Jaime’s. “What can I do?”

“Keep talking. Keep telling me what a fantastic job the Scarab did. I’m hoping an extra voice will help drive home how proud I am of them.”

Jaime felt the feather light touch of the Scarab unfurl at those words.

“Well then let’s start with the obvious. They stopped an assassin I didn’t hear before they could stab me in the back.”

_[The Nightwing was right,]_ the Scarab said. And as good as it was to hear their voice, Jaime hated how quiet it was. _[I didn’t need to take control for that. I could have just brought up an alert as I did with the Superboy.]_

“Nightwing wasn’t right.”

“Let me guess,” La’gaan said dryly, “he’s why you could use an extra voice?”

“Yeah. He’s worried about the UN charter, and any lingering Reach tricks.”

“Yeah, like the Reach are going to risk blowing their cover to save my life,” La’gaan said with a snort. “As for the UN, you know the issue isn’t you, or the Scarab, or anyone on the team. It’s Luthor. Only Luthor.”

_[But I gave him extra ammo for no reason.]_

“Not ‘no reason’,” Jaime said with a sigh before looking at La’gaan. “How much attention were you paying to my chest screen when the assassin returned?”

“Not enough to notice it before he attacked, or fled. Yeah, Scarab, even if you had decided to blare a car alarm and scare the assassin away, I’d still be dead. And I’m pretty sure you know it too. That’s why you showed Superboy where the captured assassin was. So there wouldn’t be an _accident_ before you two could clear my name.”

_[The Lagoon Boy is too modest. He was more than capable of catching the assassin. And he would have identified the glamour charm sooner, preventing the risk of him being taken.]_

La’gaan looked at Jaime’s face closely. “Is the Scarab still arguing?”

“They say you could have caught him.”

“Glad they trust my skills,” La’gaan said, smiling. “So let’s assume, that the Scarab is right. I caught the assassin easily. Great. You know what happens then? Ronal walks free.”

“That asshole’s getting charged?”

“Yeah. Zatanna was able to identify him as the creator of the amulet, exposing him as being behind his own assassination attempt, most likely to stir up anti- _kisegra_ sentiment _._ But the only reason Zatanna could do that was because Blue Beetle took his assassin down, _officially_ making it a League case.”

_[Otherwise the Ronal would have destroyed it like he did the spearhead.]_

“Exactly,” Jaime said to the Scarab with a grin.

_[But still I-]_

“Scarab, do you remember when they made us fight and capture Toyman? And give that press interview afterwards?”

_[Affirmative.]_

“Have I ever had a nightmare about that fight?”

_[Negative.]_

“Even though I was being controlled, that fight wasn’t traumatic. It was annoying when the Ambassador made us pose like Peter Pan or wave like the Queen of England. And his corny lines were the _worst_. But it wasn’t traumatic.”

Jaime closed his eyes and took a slow breath in. He felt La’gaan squeeze his hand. He felt soothing vibrations from the Scarab.

“The worst part about being controlled by the Reach was watching my friends and family get hurt and not being able to do anything about it. That’s _why_ I gave you blanket permission to take control if a fight incapacitated me. I just- I never thought about the case where I was awake but locked in, and I’m sorry for that.

“But you made the right choice. Because you protected my friends, so I didn’t have to watch helplessly again. That’s the important thing, not Nightwing’s fears, not the UN.”

_[I understand.]_

“Good,” Jaime said smiling, relishing in the feeling of the warmth of the Scarab on his back. “And now I could really use some more water.”

“Got it.” La’gaan said at the same time that the Scarab asked.

_[Do you mind if I?]_

“Please do.”

Armor covered his hands and arms. The weird ‘being pulled by strings’ feeling returned, as his hands reached out and gently took the water from La’gaan.

“Thank you,” Jaime said to both of them.

And after a moment he spoke again. “La’gaan? I would love to meet your friends, if the offer still stands?”

La’gaan grinned. “Of course.”


End file.
